Not religious but love feeling at Church

Gloomendoom

Torry_Quine wrote: »

No one does a reading in my church, the preacher does it himself.

In a C of E church it's normal for members of the congregation to do the Gospel reading and lead the prayers of intercession. My wife does it regularly.

She didn't need to go on a course to learn how do it.

Torry_Quine

Gloomendoom wrote: »

In a C of E church it's normal for members of the congregation to do the Gospel reading and lead the prayers of intercession. My wife does it regularly.

She didn't need to go on a course to learn how do it.

In my church anyone if so led can pray or share something with the church.

Jackieboy

Torry_Quine wrote: »

I do agree that people shouldn't be guilt tripped into being involved more than they want. The flip side is that there are many things which need doing for a church to operate fully. Just on a Sunday there needs someone to open the building and check the heating, creche staff, Sunday school staff, worship group, people to serve refreshments, stewards at the door to welcome and show people what they need to know. People to take up the collection and serve communion are just some of the top of my head.

You don't actually need to serve refreshments after a church service. I know many churches do now but that's a comparatively recent thing.

Torry_Quine

S

Jackieboy wrote: »

You don't actually need to serve refreshments after a church service. I know many churches do now but that's a comparatively recent thing.

Depends with you mean by recent. My church has served refreshments as long as I've been going which is over 30 years.

I do think it's an important time for people to catch up.

theoretica

What I absolutely adore is being in a church or cathedral when a really good choir is rehearsing.

I am amused at how many of the things that people are commenting on about church also happen at my volunteer run sports club. From 'hello stranger, where have you been' to being expected to contribute in some way to its running.

fierystormcloud

Torry_Quine wrote: »

No one does a reading in my church, the preacher does it himself.

The creche needs more than two people on its own and the different ages at Sunday school need their own helpers. The stewards take up the collection and serve communion but can't serve the refreshments as they will be busy counting the collection or on communion day washing the communion glasses.

That's only on Sunday, the weekday activities need people too.

As I said though I don't think anyone should have to do things they aren't comfortable with whether for time constraints or they just don't want to.

Had to laugh at the boring comment., mine is definitely not boring and I would be finding another church if it were.

Gloomendoom wrote: »

In a C of E church it's normal for members of the congregation to do the Gospel reading and lead the prayers of intercession. My wife does it regularly.

She didn't need to go on a course to learn how do it.

Torry_Quine wrote: »

In my church anyone if so led can pray or share something with the church.

These 2 comments contradict one another. Is it just the preacher who does readings at your Church? Or is it not?

At any Church I have ever been to, 4 or 5 members of the congregation do readings; indeed I find it odd that at your Church, only the preacher does it.

I get what you're saying about different people are needed for this and that, but I think you're exaggerating how many are actually needed. Most people shouldn't need to be coerced into having to join in and contribute with anything. (And this does happen.)

You say Torry, that no-one should be made to feel that they have to join in or get involved, but the fact is that most people are made to feel that they should be contributing. The woman I know said not a week goes by when the congregation aren't asked to volunteer for something; making people feel they should be joining in.

She gets asked to things over and over again too, despite saying 'no' many times. It's all right saying 'just keep saying no' and 'you don't have to do it,' but it can become tiresome being badgered. My friend said the more she goes to Church, the less she wants to go because of this. She says she wants to pray and worship and enjoys her relationship with Jesus, but is questioning if she should be attending Church, as she gets fed up of the people there sometimes. Badgering and coercing and nagging.

And yes - even though you found my comment hilarious for some reason - the services CAN be boring.

Glad for you that your Church never has boring services, but some Churches do, sometimes.

theoretica wrote: »

I am amused at how many of the things that people are commenting on about church also happen at my volunteer run sports club. From 'hello stranger, where have you been' to being expected to contribute in some way to its running.

This ^^^ Annoying isn't it?

Torry_Quine

fierystormcloud wrote: »

These 2 comments contradict one another. Is it just the preacher who does readings at your Church? Or is it not?

I get what you're saying about different people are needed for this and that, but I think you're exaggerating how many are actually needed. Most people shouldn't need to be coerced into having to join in and contribute with anything. (And this does happen.)

You say Torry, that no-one should be made to feel that they have to join in or get involved, but the fact is that most people are made to feel that they should be contributing. The woman I know said not a week goes by when the congregation aren't asked to volunteer for something; making people feel they should be joining in.

She gets asked to things over and over again too, despite saying 'no' many times. It's all right saying 'just keep saying no' and 'you don't have to do it,' but it can become tiresome being badgered. My friend said the more she goes to Church, the less she wants to go because of this. She says she wants to pray and worship and enjoys her relationship with Jesus, but is questioning if she should be attending Church, as she gets fed up of the people there sometimes. Badgering and coercing and nagging.

And yes - even though you found my comment hilarious for some reason - the services CAN be boring.

Glad for you that your Church never has boring services, but some Churches

What I mean is that the pastor or other preacher reads the passage and then preaches the sermon.

If during the service someone feels that they want to share a piece of scripture which they feed would be helpful they can do so, after of course speaking to one of the elders.

It is very wrong to continually badger someone but yes I can imagine it happening if there aren't enough volunteers although that doesn't make it right.

There is usually something in the service whether the worship time and or the sermon so that the entire service isn't boring. Sadly there are churches where this isn't necessarily the case.

benjus

I have a friend who's an atheist but sings in the local church choir. I think he just loves liturgical music, having been educated in a cathedral school. I don't think it's a particularly uncommon situation, either.

Rosemary7391

It's really surprising just how many folk it takes to keep a church going. Let's say you need just 2 people to make the service happen on a Sunday; but they can't be there every week, so you need a pool of 5/6 people to draw on there. Then behind the scenes, someone needs to deal with the money, someone has to do the paperwork, someone has to make sure the building doesn't fall down, someone has to keep it clean and those jobs all take a fair amount of time. So a small church that only has the bare minimum amount of work to do still needs about 10 people doing stuff regularly to keep it on, before we've even served the tea. That's why churches are keen for folk to help out! The more who help, the more the church can do.

I do agree that there shouldn't be pressure; but alternatively some folk do just need drawing out of their shells. Some of our stewards are really blossoming and finding skills they didn't know they had since being encouraged to do things. It's a fine line though! Church really is a community; hence all the extra bits that go along with a thriving church. Lots of calls for volunteers just means the church is doing lots of stuff, which is a good thing in my opinion. They're not just for Sundays! I'm liking all the stories of folk finding calm in empty churches during the week they wouldn't find it in ours though, the building is in use every day of the week.

Fierystormcloud - not every church will suit everyone. It might be worth your friend going to some other churches if she doesn't get on that well with people at hers? I got invited to do things before I even went to my current church (advantages of a national denomination!) but especially in larger churches, it's easier to just be a member of the congregation+whatever groups you fancy, as the workload is shared among more folk.

Jackieboy

Torry_Quine wrote: »

S

Depends with you mean by recent. My church has served refreshments as long as I've been going which is over 30 years.

I do think it's an important time for people to catch up.

Neither of the churches I attended regularly 10 years ago did. It can be helpful if you're new but shouldn't be seen as essential all the time.